A wonderful posture to practice not only in October but all year round, one of our favourites! Enjoy this deep back bend, open your heart and receive all the benefits that yoga and the Crescent Moon have to offer you!
Posture type: Back bend
Technique:
Start in a kneeling, table top position. Bring your right foot forward between your hands with the knee bent,
knee over the ankle. The left leg is long and the foot is flat on the floor. Create length through the back leg
and bring your hands to your knee, sinking downward from the waist and lifting upward through the spine.
Drop the arms by the sides of the body and stabilise yourself. Feel space in the spine and relax the
shoulders.
On the inhale let the arms extend forward and up above the head, dive into a graceful backbend. Keep
lifting through the spine, creating lightness. Lift your chest and let your heart come into the front of the
body. Keep the arms alive and the neck soft as you continue to sink into the hips, dropping the tailbone
downward. Breathe deeply here as you connect with your ability to expand energetically into the shape of
the posture, filling it with vibrant light energy.
When you are ready to come out of the posture inhale deeply and as you exhale draw yourself forward
(keeping a long spine) with the support of your stomach muscles so you don’t hinge on the lower back.
Place the hands back onto the floor and press down firmly. Gently bring your leg back. Sit back into child
pose and take a few deep healing breaths into your kidneys.
Benefits:
This is a great stretch for the muscles at the front of the thigh whilst creating space and opening in your hip
joints. It is a wonderful back bend where you strengthen the spine, creating space in the chest region,
relieving asthma and other lung/heart related issues. As we open our heart here, it can have an uplifting
affect on mood and mental state as well as toning the kidneys and liver.
Prohibition/precautions:
Take care with back, hip, shoulder and neck problems.
Adaptations:
For knee problems fold a blanket under the back knee for support. If there are hip and back problems keep
the hands on the floor creating a supported lunge pose. An option here is to rise up through the spine and
bring the hands on the knee of the bent leg, or on your hips, keeping your spine straight. For shoulder
tension/problems keep the hands in the position previously described.
ENJOY xxxxx
